I had the head gaskets replaced on my 2007 honda pilot (160,000 miles). The reason they were replaced was that I was having coolant leak into the cylinders after the car was stopped after running which made it hard to start and threw codes. Now that the head gaskets are replaced, I am still smelling burnt coolant (it smells sweet) in the exhaust after 100 miles of driving since the work was done. I do not see any white smoke, however. Is this normal? When should the smell go away?
Also, the mechanic adjusted the valves (he said they were very tight) on the engine. I am not sure, but it feels like the car is a little harder to start (the starter feels like it is straining more) even though the engine runs much more smoothly now than before. Is this also normal?
You shouldn't still be smelling coolant in your exhaust. Use masking tape to mark and date the level of coolant in your overflow tank to make sure your mechanic did a good job on your gaskets.
Why check the overflow instead of the radiator level?
overflow is a bad name. It's a reservoir. The radiator pulls coolant out of the reservoir as needed. The radiator should be full as long as there's fluid in the reservoir.
My take on this is thst you smell the coolant as before the head work was done coolant had seeped into the exhaust and into the muffler. Now that the work is done..the coolant still remains and is getting burned off little by little. Another scenario is that coolant is still leaking into the engine but you would only know that if the coolant reservoir is getting emptied little by little. As for hard starting..You would have to revisit the valve adjustment as it may be still too tight and need to be loosened in my opinion in order for easier starting. It comes down to you going back to the shop and explaining your concerns and seeing if they have a good answer and or a fix to make it normal to start and not to smell.
I just went out to the car and checked the overflow tank. It barely has any coolant in it. Just enough to cover the bottom of the bottle!!!! The work was just done a week ago. I am so disgusted.
Thank you. This is why I hate owning cars long term. The cars are too difficult to fix properly. Once they break, it's just good bye car. Once this is fixed, I am leasing an electric car. Just comes down to $/mile. No sense in owning anything. We just live in a disposable society with mechanics that can't fix anything right the first time.
Sorrry it turned out not so good for you and understand your frustration. When a bad experience like this rears its ugly head its enough to just plain give up. Cars are getting ever so complex and sometimes people who are trained to repair them do not follow through to make mistakes corrected. But as far a EV cars are concerned...we are on the cusp of new technology which will make recharging even more faster than now. Fully charged battery in 10 minutes they say. Read up on NEW Toyota Cars with solid state batteries in 2021. maybe i will see you in one AHA!
Thanks. Yes, I am done with gas cars. And I am done with Honda too. I think this car should have lasted a lot longer than 160K with the head gasket problem. Never going to buy another Honda again. And having to adjust the valves in this day and age is ridiculous. Toyota's don't have to do that. Honda really needs to go back to the drawing board.
Take the car back to the shop. They messed up.
The independent mechanics around me charge as much as the dealership, so I had this work done at the dealership thinking I would be getting OEM parts and someone who works on these cars day in, day out. What a mistake. Should have kept my money, walked away, and put that money down on a new car. Never again!
So in your shoes, after spending big bucks for a head gasket job and then smelling coolant in the exhaust and hard starting, my concern would be if the head gasket is still leaking coolant into a combustion chamber(s). (Cylinder(s))
I'd want an answer to this first, so get yourself one of those Combustion Gas test Kits.
If coolant is leaking into any of the combustion chambers and being "burned" where you can smell it in the exhaust, then combustion gasses will also be leaking back into the coolant system.
As far as the valve adjustment, if the mechanic adjusted them too loose you'd hear them clattering.
Too tight and the valves wouldn't close completely and you'd be experiencing reduced compression and driveability issues.
Valve adjustments aren't hard and any competent mechanic won't screw them up.
Watch Scotty's video on combustion gases in the coolant system/testing for leaky head gaskets with a Combustion Gas test Kit. (Costs about $30 bucks)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0U8Iyf0kk4
I went to autozone and advance auto and they both do not carry that kit. Bottom line is that the mechanic has to fix it or I will just take him to small claims court.